Traditionally, wedding ceremony music has largely drawn upon classical music to fill sections of the wedding ceremony – and these timeless musical gems are still very much in use for today’s modern wedding ceremonies. That’s not to say that you can’t use modern songs for your wedding ceremony; a special song or two are can be effectively incorporated if planned in advance and discussed with your ceremony musicians.
Pro Tip: Depending on the type of wedding ceremony you plan to have, and particularly for more religious settings in places of worship, you may want to check with your minister, rabbi or other ceremony official for recommended musical selections and/or to review any special requests you’re considering.
For most other ceremonies, you can use the suggested pieces below as a starting point and then incorporate any other special songs into the ceremony as it makes sense; just be sure to run any special requests by your ceremony musicians first. 😉
Working with Wedding Ceremony Musicians
If you’ll be hiring musicians to perform at your wedding ceremony and/or cocktail hour, they will be a great resource for you throughout your planning. They will likely have an outline of music that they typically perform for wedding ceremonies, with space to fill out your own musical choices based on their recommendations.
When thinking about the timing, make sure to hire your musicians to begin performing at least 15-30 minutes before the slated wedding ceremony start time. That way, your guests will be greeted with beautiful music when they arrive and wait, rather than silence.
Pro Tip: If you’d rather not worry too much about the details and just select your bridal processional and the recessional music; go for it! Your musicians will be more than capable of filling in the other parts of the wedding ceremony with gorgeous music.
Wedding Prelude Music
During the prelude, your musician(s) will normally select a variety of classical music such as selections by Mozart, Bach and Handel to play
while your guests arrive and are seated.
Some prelude selections we love include:
Wedding Processional Music
As the prelude wraps up, the bridal party takes their places and the processional can then begin. Typically couples will choose two pieces for the processional: a wedding ceremony song for the parents entrance and bridesmaids, and then the main processional piece for the bride.
Pro Tip: If you will be planning for a very large bridal party, you may wish to use three processional selections (parents, bridal party and bride.)
Here are our top choices for traditional wedding processionals:
Ceremony Interlude Music
While not required, you may wish to incorporate a minute or two of music before or after readings during the wedding ceremony. This can be an elegant way to fill any awkward pauses as your readers walk to the front or back to their seats.
Another common use of interlude music is to accompany a unity candle lighting, if you will be having one during your ceremony.
Here are some suggested wedding interlude songs, chosen for their softer and beautiful qualities:
Wedding Recessional and Postlude Music
And you’re married! 🙂 It’s common to select one recessional for you and your new spouse as you walk back down the aisle, and should definitely be upbeat and triumphant. Unless you specify other music, your musicians will continue to play similar joyous postlude music until all of your guests have left the ceremony area.
Popular choices for wedding recessional music:
And that’s a wrap! Enjoy the beautiful music during your ceremony (or at least know that your guests will!) 😉
Next Steps in Planning
This content was originally published here.